Pontoon's sweet potato with goat's curd, seeds and grains

"My pit-smoked sweet potato is inspired by the hangi dinners I used to enjoy with my family in New Zealand," says Pontoon chef Lance Cameron. "It's served with sheep's milk yoghurt or goat's curd and lots of interesting textures, including toasted buckwheat, puffed wild rice, sunflower seeds, pepitas and crisp coconut. Feel free to add nuts, too - almonds, cashews and walnuts all work really well."

Feb 22, 2017 1:00pm

By Lance Cameron

10 mins preparation

30 mins cooking

Serves 4

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"My pit-smoked sweet potato is inspired by the hangi dinners I used to enjoy with my family in New Zealand," says Pontoon chef Lance Cameron. "It's served with sheep's milk yoghurt or goat's curd and lots of interesting textures, including toasted buckwheat, puffed wild rice, sunflower seeds, pepitas and crisp coconut. Feel free to add nuts, too - almonds, cashews and walnuts all work really well." Cameron cooks the sweet potato in the embers of the charcoal grill at Pontoon. To cook sweet potatoes like this, wrap them in baking paper and then foil and bury them in the coals for about 30 minutes.

Ingredients

1 large (about 600 gm) sweet potato, unpeeled, quartered

75 ml extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp za'atar

2 tsp smoked paprika

8 tbsp, or to taste goat's curd

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground corriander

Sorrel, coriander or flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Seeds and grains

1 tsp buckwheat

1 tsp sunflower seeds

1 tsp pepitas

1 tbsp coconut flakes

2 golden shallots, thinly sliced

125 ml vegetable oil (¼ cup)

1 tsp wild rice

Method

Main

1

Preheat oven to 160C. Drizzle sweet potato with 2 tbsp olive oil and scatter with za'atar, paprika and sea salt flakes. Wrap in baking paper then in foil and roast until tender when pierced with a skewer (35-40 minutes). To serve, cut into quarters lengthways, then halve each crossways.

2

For seeds and grains, scatter buckwheat, sunflower seeds, pepitas and coconut flakes on an oven tray and roast until fragrant (about 10 minutes). Sauté shallot in oil in a small saucepan over low-medium heat until golden (5 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels and season to taste with sea salt. Add rice to hot oil (be careful, hot oil will spit) and fry until puffed and golden (1-2 minutes). Transfer to paper towels with a slotted spoon and season to taste with sea salt. Combine puffed rice with shallots, seeds and grains in a bowl.

3

To serve, spoon goat's curd onto plates, top with roasted sweet potato, scatter with seeds and grains, garnish with herbs and serve.